Miag-ao Church | What to Visit in Ilo-Ilo

This is the Second Day of my Itinerary in My Negros Solo-Backpacking | Day 2

In front of Jaro Church, I rode a jeep going to Super (near Robinsons) and then at the side of Super, I rode a jeepney going to San Joaquin/Miag-ao. I had no idea where to get off the jeep, but I kept on asking the people in the jeep about my destination. Good thing that they were so kind and I was able to reach Miag-ao successfully.

Miag-ao is a first class municipality in the province of Ilo-Ilo situated in Western Visayas, Philippines. It’s less than an hour travel from the city. The highway going to Miag-ao Municipal hall is a cemented road that stretches almost along the coastline.

In front of the municipal hall, beside the highway, a basketball can be found. It serves as the playground mostly of the students in the nearby schools. The public plaza also is another open space that the student can visit, as it contains some of the plaques about the history of the municipality. 

This statue of Dr. Jose Rizal stands in front of the city hall and in the center of the public plaza.  Crossing the highway is the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Baroque Churches of the Philippines,” – Miag-ao Church.

The construction of this church began in 1787 while Fray Francisco M. Gonzales. O.S.A. was the parish priest of Miag-ao and Domingo Libo-on  was the Gobernadorcillo. The Church was completed in 1797 and it served as the fortress against Muslim Raiders. In 1898, during the revolution, this church was destroyed but then it was rebuilt. In 1910, it was damaged by fine, and then it was badly damaged by earthquake in 1948. Restoration work began in 1960 and was completed in 1962. During the term of office of the Most Rev. Dr. Jose Ma. Cuenco, D.D. Metropolitan Archbishop of Jaro, of Msgr. Fernando S. Javillo, D.P., Parish Priest of this town and Dioscoro Mueda, Municipal Mayor.

As what you can see on the photo above, the two belfries or the watchtowers contain unique Spanish inspired designs. The bricks and the details change its color (based on my observation) in the afternoon.

The facade of the church has a huge coconut tree image which St. Christopher is carrying Baby Jesus on his shoulder. According to some stories in this town, since this church contains 1.5 meters thick walls, 6 meters deep, the people believes that it contains a secret passage going to somewhere else. For my next destination, I rode a jeep in front of the plaza going back to the city and get off to this church, click here: Tigbauan Church.